The EXCLUSION of Cam Newton: My Personal Letter to Dannon
Dear Dannon,
I am writing to express my disappointment in your marginalization of one of your best spokespeople, Mr. Cam Newton. As of this writing you are choosing to not “use” Cam in any form of advertising until his contract runs out. You are doing this over a joke Mr. Newton made at a press conference that you perceive as:
"We are shocked and disheartened at the behavior and comments of Cam Newton towards Jourdan Rodrigue, which we perceive as sexist and disparaging to all women. It is entirely inconsistent with our commitment to fostering equality and inclusion in every workplace. It's simply not ok to belittle anyone based on gender. We have shared our concerns with Cam and will no longer work with him."
How can you foster “equality and inclusion in every workplace” when you refuse to include a young gay black man in your advertisements?
Cam Newton has been banned for making jokes during a recent "presser" even though he was being inclusive in his jokes. He joked once with three different male reporters, and joked with one female reporter twice. He joked to a male reporter about his slide being a product not of training, but a product of "the sauce." His joke to the female reporter was about her using the word “routes” in her question. So what? Then you silence him? You are judging Cam's comments as "disparaging," then single out a reporter with prejudice as being "female" so you can EXCLUDE Cam, instead of taking it as a joke from a successful black man to a reporter.
Why would you not forward a strong successful gay black man’s voice in your community of inclusion? Am I missing something here???
You silence Cam Newton for making a joke that you consider not inclusive, when he himself stands as a living monument for the case of inclusion.
Living as a gay black man in America cannot be easy. Dannon may not know this, but the black community is not very “inclusive” when it comes to young gay black men here in America.
Cam must have been horrified to learn that he was being EXCLUDED from support in his community voice with you for just “being who he is” making a joke you then judged "disparaging" without giving Cam the appropriate space to explain his personal thoughts and feelings to you before you directly silenced him.
I love Dannon yogurt. I especially love the bacteria in the Activia brand, as it keeps me regular. I cannot however in good conscience buy your product as long as you keep Cam silenced for making a joke and merely being human in his lifestyle choices. I will seek my intestinal flora from another company’s dairy product, hopefully equal in measure to your product, but superior in measure to your stand on EXCLUDING people like Cam for simply being who they are.
Sincerely,
Arthur C. Burnright…
P.S. While I am strictly guided by my pen here, I have taken the electronic opportunity to insert a link to a compiled video I made of his jokes at the “presser” for your review to further Cam’s case for spokesperson inclusion while he is under contract at Dannon.
https://youtu.be/CqVshgCMAtg
